If you haven鈥檛 broken a law, you shouldn鈥檛 worry about a police check, right? Wrong. Almost any contact with police has the potential to ruin future employment or volunteering opportunities.
sa国际传媒 privacy commissioner Elizabeth Denham says police departments should stop disclosing people鈥檚 mental-health records when doing background checks for employers. She said police should also stop releasing unproven allegations and other information, except in cases where employees will be working with children or vulnerable adults.
Criminal-record checks have gone from being a rare requirement for high-risk jobs to an almost routine component when people are applying for jobs or to become volunteers.
The trend is unfortunate, but necessary in many cases. It鈥檚 relevant to know whether a volunteer who will be working with children has a record of sex abuse. It鈥檚 important to know if an employee with access to confidential files on individuals has a record of fraud or identity theft. In our mobile society, reference checks and other measures only provide so much data.
Criminal-record checks are not simply checks for criminal convictions. Forms vary, but most include a space for police to indicate if there may be 鈥渓ocal records of concern鈥� or of 鈥渘egative police contact.鈥� Those could, depending on the interpretation of police departments, include anything from an investigation of a noise complaint to your call to report a neighbourhood altercation.
Denham鈥檚 report is welcome, but the problem is not new. In February 2010, an official with the Attorney General鈥檚 Ministry described this as 鈥渁n issue that鈥檚 been hanging out there for a long, long time.鈥� A 10-member committee, including representatives of the RCMP, municipal police and the province was supposed to be working on recommendations for change.
Yet Denham says she has received 鈥渄ozens and dozens of complaints.鈥� She cites a case where a police check on a woman seeking an office job revealed details of a suicide attempt, costing the woman the job.
In another case, a woman accused of theft disputed the allegation, and the Crown decided not to approve a charge. But an employment background check that revealed this information cost her the job.
Employers are entitled to know if potential employees have been convicted of theft or other crimes. Organizations must also be assured potential volunteers do not pose a danger. But too often, a basic premise of our judicial system 鈥� that innocence is presumed until guilt has been proven in court 鈥� is ignored. People are punished for simply having been suspected of an offence, or even for just calling the police for help in a moment of distress.
The problem is not restricted to this province. Denham鈥檚 Ontario counterpart, Ann Cavoukian, has called on the RCMP and other police services to show greater discretion in posting mental-health-related information. This comes after a Toronto woman was denied access to the U.S. on the basis of a mental-health issue 鈥� a suicide attempt the year before.
sa国际传媒 Justice Minister Suzanne Anton鈥檚 office says the government will consider Denham鈥檚 recommendations, but noted that many serious incidents investigated by police don鈥檛 result in convictions, but could still be relevant.
It is critical that the information used in preparing the checks be accurate and relevant. The mere fact that a person has had contact with police should not haunt that person if it鈥檚 not relevant.
